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The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday issued interim orders suspending the reverse tendering process initiated by the YSR Congress Government and the Government Order issued to scrape the contract given to the Navayuga Engineering Company (NEC) by the earlier TDP Government.
The interim orders were issued by the Andhra Pradesh High Court on a petition by the NEC challenging the Government Order (GO).
On August 14, the State Government took a decision to scrape the contract given to NEC for a portion of the head works in the mega Polavaram irrigation project on the Godavari river.
It is a national project being executed by the State Government under the supervision of the Polavaram Project Authority. The 700-MW hydel power project was also given to the same company.
The Government issued an order scrapping the agreement between AP Genco and the Navayuga Engineering Company on the hydel project and later called for fresh tenders under the reverse tendering process for the remaining head works as well as the hydel project for Rs 4,987.55 crores including the hydel power project component (Rs 3,216.11 crores).
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The AP High Court today had suspended the orders on the hydel power project component, on the plea of the company that the delay was not their fault and that the land required for the project was not handed over to them. Further, it had mobilised all the equipment for executing the power project and it would be completed according to time schedule.
The Polavaram Project Authority also advised the YSR Congress Government against the process of reverse tendering and expressing satisfaction with the work done by the Navayuga Engineering Company. However, the State Government rejected the advice.
Reacting to the development, former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam leader N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the Jaganmohan Reddy government did not heed to the voices of sanity and took an irrational decision.
The project would be delayed and the cost would go up now, he said.
He also added that Polavaram project was critical to the development of the State and the people would have to pay a heavy price for the absurd decisions of the new government. "I demand an explanation from the new government," he said.
Several other TDP leaders spoke in the same tenor and urged the Government to see reason at least now and allow the Navayuga Company to complete the head works as well as the hydel power project. There is no corruption in the project, as alleged by YSR Congress leaders, they said.
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